Commentary on the Patriot Act
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 is the USA Patriot Act (The USA PATRIOT Act). After the devastating terrorist acts of September 11, the president issued an Executive order known as HR 3162, or the commonly known acronym the USA PATRIOT Act. The USA PATRIOT Act, enacted on October 26, 2001, has been critical in preventing another terrorist attack on the United States. It brought the federal government’s ability to investigate threats to our national security into the modern era by modifying our investigative tools to reflect recent technologies, eliminating barriers to effective national security investigations, and giving national security investigators the same sort of tools that have long been available to investigators who handle non-national security matters.
Every effort must be taken to preserve our nation’s citizen’s safety. The civil rights and liberties of all Americans must be protected. Thankfully, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005. This new Patriot Act is even better than its predecessor, the original Patriot Act, and both forms of legislation are the keys to fighting the “War on Terror”. This legislation reauthorizes all expiring sections of the USA PATRIOT Act, adds dozens of additional safeguards to protect the privacy and civil liberties of all Americans’, and strengthens port security, which the President of the United States almost gave away to terrorists. This reauthorizing legislation provides essential support for our efforts to protect both Americans and the values that Americans treasure.
Since October of 2001, the Patriot Act has been fundamental to winning the “War on Terror” and protecting the American people. This new legislation signed into law by Congress allows intelligence and law enforcement officials to continue sharing information and using the same tools against terrorists that are already used against drug dealers and other criminals. While safeguarding Americans' civil liberties, this new Patriot Act also strengthens the United States Department of Justice so that it can better detect and disrupt terrorist threats. It also gives law enforcement officials new tools to battle threats. Both the original Patriot Act and the new and improved Patriot Act significantly increase the surveillance, and investigative powers of law enforcement agencies. It gives federal officials greater authority to track and intercept communications, both for law enforcement and foreign intelligence gathering purposes. America still faces...